Diversifying your income can help create a financial safety net for your practice and help you power through tough times. The good news is there are a ton of new and exciting ways to add new income opportunities by moving beyond the traditional 1:1 visits. Now is a great time to start diversifying (in fact, we’ve got another great blog on transitioning from the one-to-one to a one-to-many model of care). So, how do you create multiple streams of revenue for your practice? What kind of opportunities are available? How can you get started? Let's dive in to help you leverage your expertise and increase your incremental revenue.
Simply put, it means the increased business income your practice earns from leveraging sources outside of your typical offerings, like one-to-one visits. The question is, what alternative revenue streams can help scale your expertise without taking you away from your primary business focus?
A good rule when it comes to increasing sources of income for businesses is to stay in your area of comfort or expertise. For example, choose an opportunity already related to, or in the same niche, as your current offering(s). By keeping within your zone of genius, such as gut health, or hormonal health, or eating disorder recovery, you avoid the overwhelm of taking on something too new. Explore opportunities that make the most sense for your practice and growth goals, as well as ones that help you optimize your workflows. For example, if you counsel people on diabetes education, you can create a group program or challenge and charge a fee to participants. You could also offer a weekly live low glycemic cooking class and charge a monthly membership fee for participants to access the live classes.
As a health and wellness practitioner, you already have a lot on your plate with your current client base. A top benefit of exploring new business revenue streams is that, in addition to helping you increase your bottom line, diversifying your income can help you avoid burnout if your income-earning idea takes advantage of automation. Avoiding burnout should be a top priority as a health and wellness practitioner not only because it’s important for you to walk the talk, but also for the longevity of your career.
Besides obvious recurring income benefits, there are a number of other advantages that come from branching out your services. When you diversify your offerings, you also:
So, what are different sources of income for a business out there?
The time has come to get your incremental revenue stream flowing. We’ve put together our top five ideas to help inspire you.
Establishing a model of bundled services for a set price, or even a subscription service, will entice your clients to schedule more visits more often to get more bang for their buck. For example, if you're a nutritionist who works with athletes trying to gain mass and you know that it takes at least three months for your clients to see results, create a package of an initial visit plus three monthly follow-ups. This bundle not only provides income certainty to you and cost-savings to the client, but it sets up their expectations for an appropriate time to see results.
Here is what a package would look like in Practice Better:
Another way for health practitioners to introduce bundled services is to build programs that offer a combination of one-to-one and group sessions. The group sessions allow you to see multiple clients at once, maximizing your paid time. In addition, participants will feel motivated and inspired by others going through similar health journeys.
Here's an example of a practitioner who bundled one-to-one and group sessions in one package:
This is what a practitioner's Package Booking Page looks like:
Another great way to earn incremental income for a business is monthly plans or subscription services. This type of revenue model benefits both your practice and your clients. They can enjoy the convenience and value of auto-renewal for a lower ongoing investment in your high-value services, while you can scale your practice with confidence. You can collect predictable recurring income and create deeper, more meaningful relationships with your clients.
For example, you could build a monthly plan that includes both virtual and in-person appointments to build recurring income with the added bonus of keeping your clients’ progress on track. Or, consider implementing a membership program packed with helpful resources to support a client's progress after they complete your one-to-one session! Setting up a resource library for your clients following the end of their appointment will encourage them to stay accountable for their goals and keep them on track beyond your direct support.
Adding complementary services to your practice not only helps increase client retention, it sets you apart from your competitors. For example, if you’re a dietitian and a trainer, offering both services can allow you to have a powerful impact on your clients’ health and your practice’s footprint by cross-selling your services. Clients may come to you as a trainer and sign on for your dietitian services and vice-versa. This model can also help you retain clients beyond your initial offerings. If they started with nutritional counseling sessions, you could potentially move them onto meal plan services to increase business revenue.
Still not sure what to offer? Find out by asking your clients themselves. Incentivize them with a discount for future services as a trade for their responses to a survey, if you can. Getting intel from your own clients will not only help you find out what additional services would be attractive to your audience, but it’ll also help you create a waiting list of potential clients who want the new service offering you’ve got. If you still need a little extra inspiration, check out this helpful blog for some ideas.
Another popular option to bring in some extra revenue involves corporate retreats or workshops. Events are another great way to diversify from the current by-appointment-only model. Workshops are a short, intensive program dedicated to educating a small group about techniques or best practices in a particular area. Retreats often involve travel, and booking a venue, so they require more coordination. With solid planning, corporate workshops can help you earn income while getting in front of potential new clients.
There are a number of ways you can do workshops, whether you run an exclusive event for an hour or two with corporate groups or you bring in special guests to host the workshop for you. Either way, offering workshops can keep clients coming back for more. By regularly introducing new workshops, you keep existing and potential clients engaged with your business. You can also offer complimentary workshop seats as a loyalty perk, for example. Depending on what service you’re providing, you can offer online workshops to make access even easier.
Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach more customers and generate more revenue. This method allows your practice to earn commission by promoting trusted brands in the wellness space. Customers get recommendations from a source they trust, the promoted products or services earn revenue from a targeted audience and your practice gets paid for promoting products you love.
So how do you become an affiliate marketer? For starters, you’ll want to pick the right partners that fit with your brand and reach out to them to start a relationship with the companies you use, trust, and admire. From there, you’ll want to promote through various channels—social, on your website, word of mouth—and with every product purchased, you’ll earn a commission.
Now that you’ve got the idea, it’s time to get out there, diversify your income and open your practice up to a world of new and exciting opportunities. Once you’ve got that down and you’re ready to start collecting the extra revenue, find out how you can streamline the payments process with a little help from Superbills.
Need help automating your health and wellness business? Practice Better is the tool beloved by practitioners and professionals across the globe. Using practice management software like Practice Better can take the sweat out of diversifying your income.
Practice Better is the complete practice management platform for nutritionists, dietitians, and wellness professionals. Streamline your practice and begin your free trial today.
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